Vocabulary
What is subsistence farming?
When you only grow enough food for your family but not enough to sell
How did Sarah first respond when she and her family arrived at their homestead?
She cried
How many railroads did Minnesota have?
3
Answers vary
What is another word for "Granger" or "Grange"?
Farmer
What ate up the farmer's crops 4 years in a row?
Grasshoppers!
How did railroads help Minnesota grow? (name 1 of 2 possible answers)
Brought new people to live here and created a bigger market to sell goods
What was the one problem with planting only 1 crop?
Option 1: whole crop falls to disease
Option 2:Can't make any money on it because there is too much available to sell
Option 3: Demanded too much nutrients out of the soil
What is a "homestead"?
A farm
What was the first thing that John Tainter had to do after his family reached their homestead?
Build a house!
Who mostly rode the railroad into Minnesota?
Immigrants moving here to homestead
What did the Grange Cooperatives help farmers with?
Teaching eachother new skills and working together for better prices when they sold crops
what is a cash crop?
Crops/food that you sell to make money
How did the homesteaders stay safe during blizzards?
The tied ropes around their waist if they had to go outside
Name 2 products sold from Minnesota on the train
Iron Ore / Farm Goods / Lumber
If homesteaders wanted to get land without living on it for 5 years, how could they get it? (name 1 way)
1. buy land from railroads 2. just move onto it and pay the government later 3. soldiers could get free land
what is diversified farming?
When you plant a variety of crops on your farm
What was the main purpose of the strong Oxen?
Options:
Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Soo Line.
What did the Homestead Act of 1862 do?
Sold up to 160 acres of land to any homesteader for just $18 as long as they lived there and farmed for 5 years